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Some Gems from Srimadh Bhagavatham--2nd Posting

From the Bhakti List Archives

V. Sadagopan • December 5, 1996 


Dear BhagavathAs interested inBhagavadh Vishayam:

Since Srimadh Bhagavatham's dasama skandham deals
with the life and Leelaas of Sri KrishNaa , I have assembled 
ten gems from the different Skandhams of Srimadh Bhagavatham 
for our daly reflections :

1.POWER OFTHE NAME OF THE LORD

Skandham VI .2 .17-19 : This deals with Antima smrithi . "Those who
utter the name of the Lord in a spirit of helpless supplication 
during the last moments of their lives on this earth ,quickly get 
cleared of the sins accumulated during many births and reach Him 
without fail . .. The name of the Lord , uttered with or without awareness 
of its power and sanctity , destroys completely the sins of human beings,
just as Agni totally consumes the fuel .

2 . THREE TYPES OF DEVOTEES (Bh . XI . 2 .45-47)

These  verses deal with BhagavathOttamAs , BhagavadhAdhamAs 
and the in betweens . " The HIGHEST  type (Uttamaas) of BhagavathA
is the one , who perceives the glory of the Lord reflected in all of His 
creations--high and Low-- and also recognizes all living ones as 
dwelling in Him. ... The lower one  mkaes the distinction between 
the Lord , His BhagavathAs , common folk  and truly evil-minded 
ones. Correspondingly , he maintains toward the above four ,
attitudes of deep love, friendship , pity  and distance respectively .
The LOWEST type of devotee is one , who offers worship to the icons of 
the Lord with great affection ,but has no respect for His BhagavathAs 
and no interest in common folks or others. "

3. WAYS OF REACHING THE LORD (Bh . VII . 1 .30)

The GOpis through physical attrction, Kamsaa through fear,
SisupAlA through  hate, the VrishNis through clanishness ,
the PaandavAs through their affection and the Rishis through 
devotion attained Him " .

4 . ONENESS OF MIND OF THE LORD ( Bh. X .87.23 )

The sages focus their minds on Him as the resdent in their
hearts, the philosophers try to recognize Him as the indweller of
all things, the AsurAs soend their time in mortal fear of confrontation
with Him  and the passionate gOpis ,who long for physical union 
with Him in violation of all social and ethical taboos ---they are ALL 
alike to Him .

5.THE ADORATION OF ACHYUTHAA AND ITS EFFECTS ( Bh .IV . 31. 14 )

Just as by supplying water at the root of  a tree nourishes all 
the branches , the leaves and the shoots , just as food consumed 
to sustain vitality strengthens al the limbs , so also adoration of 
AchyuthA nourishes all Gods and  the Universe. 

6. INFINITE  ATTRIBUTES OF THE LORD ( Bh .X . 14. 7)

A special person may perhaps over a long period of time 
count the grains of sand present over the envelope of this 
universe, count  the particles of dew in the environment 
or estimate the number of stars in the firmament , but no one, 
absolutely no one can count the attributes of thine , the infinite one !

7 . THE PATHS OF WORSHIP( Bh . X .40 .10 )

O Lord ! Just as ALL rivers originating from various 
mountains fed by rain ultimately reach the Ocean ,
so do ALL  paths of worship lead ultimately to YOU .

8 . MOODA  BHAKTHI ( Bh . XI .12 . 8 and  13 )

The gOpis never recited the VedAs , they never spent
their time in apprenticeship under a Guru , they practised
no austerity , but by association with holiness , they attained Me .
.... Hundreds of GOpis attained Me , the supreme Brahman , 
through loving Me as their paramour , but not through understanding
My true nature as the sustainer of the Universe .

9 . VIDVESHA BHAKTHI ( Bh . VII . 28 )

Even by uninterrupted thinking of the Lord ( KrishNA ) as their
dreaded enemy , they ( KamsA , SisupAlA ) became washed of 
all their sins and attained Him a tthe end .

10 . THE GLORY OF KRISHNAA ( Bh . X . 40 .50 )
( The final slokam of the Dasama Skandham )

By the ceaseless practise of hearing (SravaNam ) ,
singing about ( Nama Sankeerthanam ) , and remembering
(SmaraNam ) of the glorious deeds of Lord KrishNaa , man's
attachment to Him grows day by day ; as a result , man attains 
the Lord and thereby conquers the irreversible and inevitable 
approach of death , which overpowers all beings. It is in search of 
THAT state , the emperors go to the forests leaving their kingdoms
behind . 

Sri VaishNava Daasan ,

Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri Sadagopan